tie rods and wheel bearing

cojomo2

Hi.

Looking for a bit of advice as to what the problem may be with may car before I actually go ahead and try sort it myself with the help of my haynes manual.

When driving the car (r53 mini) at certain low speeds I get a humming /bearing noise. It gets slightly worse if I turn the steering wheel slightly to the left. I had put this down to a wont front drivers side bearing.


Now, another problem has surfaced. My steering wheel was shaking at 50mph- so thought the tyre place(bought new tyres recently) didn't balance the wheels properly. Brought it back to find out the wheels had a slight buckle so I got the wheels unbuckled.

Now the shake has gone but the steering feels a bit loose , sometimes the steering wheel jerks left or right by itself, if I take my hand off the steering wheel the car drifts off to the left or right...

I'm thinking the tie rod ends and the bearing need replacing- any opinions on this welcome.

thanks

Tropheus

If you jack the car up and grab the wheel at the 3-9 position, give it a shove on either side. If there is movement and the steering rack isn't moving, then it's most likely the track rod ends. You may want to get someone to help so you can hold your hand on the track rod end to be sure. You may see a split in the boot on the TRE which is a tell-tale sign.

If you grab it at the 12-6 position and get movement, then it's most likely the wheel bearings.

Another thing to check would be the CV joints. Damage to the boots could indicate damage to the joints. They should give more of a ticking/clicking noise when turning.

I have a similar problem on my 2003 Audi Allroad. There is 185k miles on the clock and it has original shocks. I'm getting a vibration on braking and in the steering over 60 mph. Not severe, but still there. I've changed the front tyres, brake pads and disks, and the top and lower control arms. It's improved but still there. I'm beginning to thing shocks or wheel bearings, but it's still too subtle to be sure.

Hope this helps.

cojomo2

cheers for that info.

Looks like my tie rods need replacing anyway- can anyone tell me- are modern tie rod ends already greased on the inside? thanks

Tropheus

cojomo2 wrote: »

cheers for that info.

Looks like my tie rods need replacing anyway- can anyone tell me- are modern tie rod ends already greased on the inside? thanks

It depends. You just need to loosen the locking nut. Then count the number of turns when you're taking them off. Screw the new one on for the same number of turns which should roughly get the wheels back into alignment. However, a proper alignment is advised afterwards.

I did the ones on my Audi a couple of years ago and they were a bugger to get off. They weren't far of seized. If they are seized, they will need to be heated to get them off.

cojomo2

ksimpson wrote: »

It depends. You just need to loosen the locking nut. Then count the number of turns when you're taking them off. Screw the new one on for the same number of turns which should roughly get the wheels back into alignment. However, a proper alignment is advised afterwards.

I did the ones on my Audi a couple of years ago and they were a bugger to get off. They weren't far of seized. If they are seized, they will need to be heated to get them off.

Hey, thanks for the reply. Yep, but what I mean is do you have to inject grease into the rubber boot thing, or is it already greased up inside the joint? Some videos I have seen shows the guy inserting a little pin type thing into the rubber part then hooking it up to a grease gun and filling the inside with grease.

However, the haynes manual doesn't mention anything about this- does it depend on the make of the tie rod end? Some come greased (internally) and some come dry? Thanks again


Also, I'm pretty sure I know this but if I grab the tie rod arm and pull up and down and the tie rod end moves up and down where it joins with the steering knuckle, is that a sure sign its worn? Both my tie rods do this. thanks